“ Wolsey always said that the making of a treaty is the treaty. It doesn't matter what the terms are, just that there are terms. It's the goodwill that matters. When that runs out, the treaty is broken,… Hilary Mantel
“ When the cardinal came to a closed door he would flatter it--oh beautiful yielding door! Then he would try tricking it open. And you are just the same, just the same. He pours himself some of the duke… Hilary Mantel
“ When I was small I dreamed of demons. I thought they were under my bed, but you said, it can't be so, you don't get demons our side of the river, the guards won't let them over London Bridge. Hilary Mantel
“ They are en route to Farnham, a small hunting party, when a report is galloped along the road: cases of plague have appeared in the town. Henry, brave on the battlefield, pales almost before their eye… Hilary Mantel
“ The maid found a handkerchief of hers, under the bed in which she had died. A ring that had been missing turned up in his own writing desk. A tradesman arrived with fabric she had ordered three weeks… Hilary Mantel
“ So much has been said between them that it is needless to add a marginal note. It is not for him now to gloss the text of their dealings, nor append a moral. Hilary Mantel
“ [Children's] lives start long before birth, long before conception, and if they are aborted or miscarried or simply fail to materialise at all, they become ghosts in our lives...The unborn, whether th… Hilary Mantel
“ Where is Richard, do you know?Chopping onions on the back step. Oh, you mean Master Richard? Upstairs. Eating. Where's anybody? Hilary Mantel
“ Well, you know the form,’ Bedingfield says. ‘She lives in that room and has her ladies – those ones – cook for her over the fire. You knock and go in, and if you call her Lady Katherine she kicks you… Hilary Mantel
“ We shall have to develop a hand signal for Back off, our prince is fucking this man's daughter. He is surprised the Italians have not done it. Hilary Mantel
“ The page of an accounts book is there for your use, like a love poem. It’s not there for you to nod and then dismiss it; it’s there to open your heart to possibility. It’s like the scriptures: it’s th… Hilary Mantel
“ Tell me, why do you think I do this? The king sounds curious. Out of lust? Is that what you think?Kill a cardinal? Divide your country? Split the church? 'Seems extravagant,' Chapuys murmurs. Hilary Mantel
“ Sometimes I sensed within myself–somestimes I felt it strongly– a will, a pull towards frivolity. I wanted to separate myself from the common fate of girls who are called Carmel, and identify myself w… Hilary Mantel
